Texas Ranks 2nd In The American High-Tech Job Market

A technician at work near a circuit board. (credit: REMY GABALDA/AFP/Getty Images)

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – After adding some 10,000 net jobs between 2011 and 2012, Texas is ranked second in the nation for high-tech employment.

According to the TechAmerica Foundation, Texas has more than 485,000 technology jobs, and quite a few of those are right here in North Texas. “Texas also has a significant cluster of technology jobs that are located around the Dallas/Fort Worth region,” explained Matthew Kazmierczak, the senior vice at TechAmerica. “A number of very large companies are headquartered there, and other companies want to located near those companies.”

Kazmierczak believes Texas got the high ranking because of the number of colleges and universities in the state. “One of the most attractive features for a technology company is workforce,” he said. “So having access to a strong pipeline of well-qualified, well-educated individuals is a critical component for a tech company.”

It’s not just the technology businesses that benefit North Texas; it’s also the real estate, auto, retail and other businesses that profit from their presence. “Texas also has a significant cluster of technology jobs that are located around the Dallas/Fort Worth region. A number of very large companies are headquartered there, and other companies want to located near those companies.”

With some 67,000 net tech jobs added in the United States in 2012, Kazmierczak says the number of new tech jobs will continue to increase, not only in Texas but also across the nation. “As technology becomes more complex the users of that technology are gonna need greater amounts of knowledge, and information, and skill sets to be able to best utilize that.”

In case you were wondering which state is number one when it comes to high tech jobs – it’s California, with 970,000.